Bayou

[undream]

A lazy, warm deep green scent with a thick aquatic undertone: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms.

 

BEAUTIFUL, this is just one big ol' gorgeous humid floral(!), and ugh, i love. it. i had thought this scent was largely & simply just a beautiful blend of huge white lilies and hazy southern heat, everything lush & humid and thick with heady floral. it is absolutely gorgeous, and for a southern girl with a soft spot for new orleans, this one may just have to go on my big bottle wishlist. love.

[Saffrin]

Imp: Hot, slightly damp moss.Some mid wood. Can't smell the blooms it mentions.

 

Wet: A little bit of moss and damp, and a lot of flowers.

 

Dry: Soft, hot florals. A little damp. Not getting swamp from it. Maybe recent rainfall in a hot, dusty field of flowers?

[ajansuz]

This was a frimp with my Halloween order. I was pleased to receive it since it had sounded interesting to me for a while.

 

In the imp: Heavily floral and very sweet. Jasmine, gardenia, magnolia, pretty much white floral overload.

 

Wet: I can't tell if it's gardenia or magnolia. It's doing the same thing to me that Hell's Belle and Black Dahlia did, headache inducing amping of the floral.

 

Dry down: The florals stay overwhelmingly strong and sweet. There's an undernote of decay that makes it sickening. As lush and beautiful as this smelled in the imp, unfortunately on my skin chemistry it's a huge, heavy NO. I had a hard time washing it off. I had to scrub my skin with salt scrub, and even then there was a hint of scent left.

[nixie3]

Oh no, this is not for me AT ALL. In the imp...very white floral, with a heavy undertone that's fascinating. I immediately thought, this will either go very well or very poorly for me.

 

On the skin wet: Definitely strong white floral, with a hint of warmth, almost bee's wax underneath. Rather lovely.

 

On dry down: Well. This is when things got bad for us. Turned to old lady powder and gave me a horrible headache. My guess is it's either Gardenia or Magnolia doing it. I smell like a perfume/perfume powder my mom used in the 60's or 70's, and I didn't like it then and really don't like it now

 

Dry: floral powder to the nth degree of get the heck off me now. The headache is gone, but I REALLY do not want to smell this way ever again. I am NOT a white blossom feminine kind of woman at all.

 

1 out of 5

[GreatWhiteFork]

IN THE BOTTLE: Oh this is intriguing. It's got a murky quality... I get water lilies and something swampy. The whole thing smells very wet, with the florals nice and warmed. It makes you feel like a crocodile.

 

WET: Wow, this is really bright on me! The watery notes are still there, with just a hint of lime for some reason. The florals have a pleasant wilting quality, like the flowers are just starting to die. I wouldn't think that wilting flowers would smell great, but I can't stop sniffing my arm.

 

DRY: It's mostly just the flowers. The wet note has gone, and the cypress starts to peek out. I keep getting the imagery of tree blossoms floating on a pond, and this makes me feel like a kelpie. A very sexy scent on me.

[miishanyan]

I wanted so badly to like this, I was looking forward to it more than any other sample I ordered, put it on as soon as the box was open, and bleh. It's a gorgeous scent in the imp, floral and green, but very different from my usual rose/jasmine/etc scents, but when I put it on it just started going powdery and actually quite sour. I wound up having to wash it off

My colleague told me I smelt like her grandmother. Her dead grandmother.

 

I will keep this imp though, try it again after a while and at different times of the month, and if all else fails, I'll use it as a burning scent.

 

Edit: Positive to this is that my housemate tried it on and it smells awesome on her, so to a better suited person it goes!

Edited October 24, 2013 by miishanyan

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Significantly more floral than I’d hoped. The aquatics are pervasive and bridge the floral faction with the green notes. In the green faction, the moss is slightly dominant, but really this is about the florals. No skin test as it’s rather much for me in the bottle.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Gwydion

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Wet and mossy. Swampy, but fresh. For a second it reminds me of my aunt's backyard - which has a pool, a creek, blossoming bushes, and bamboo.

 

Drydown: Calming blues and greens. The evergreen note is slightly peppery, but the overall vibe is cool and watery. Heady blossoms (jasmine and lotus?), fresh water, moss, and ivy. I can picture bugs flying through the air. This is both calming and very alive.

 

Dry: It sweetens up and skews a tad floral once dry, but overall it remains reliably woodsy and watery without once turning soapy. Hurrah!

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

Edited March 4, 2022 by BoneBone24
(updated to include more recent impressions)

[AgriaTheWild]

bottle: a little like sunscreen and the pool but in a good way. definitely watery. some florals.

wet: starts as sunscreen but turns into florals and water.

drydown: bright white floral that i SHOULD know. maybe gardenia or magnolia.

dry: the same but a touch less sweet. citrus?

[Veronica]

Sweet, heady green floral. Humid, wet green house flowers and greens. Both soothing and soft, and sparkling and bright.

[Lilah Wrote]

This is a review for a very aged bottle of Bayou.

 

This bottle has got to be eight years old, give or take a year.

 

In bottle: Honeslty, it's a lot more muted than it was when fresh. I didn't forget about it, but I've been using it sparingly because it's a favorite, favorite scent. Somehow, this one outlasted some of its bretheren of the same scent. It was hiding in a corner or something.

 

On skin: Soapier than I remember, but I do know that is a thing others mentioned in their reviews for 'fresher' bottles. Not concerned.

 

Fading, ten or so minutes after application: A LOT more cypress than before it was aged. It's still a water-y scent, to me, but it is legitimately as though I am being punched in the face with cypress.*

 

Throw/wear length: For me, most bpal smells have a long throw. This one seems marginally longer than others, if that helps.

 

I get only a mild flower-y smell from the aged bottle and loads of trees/green and wet scent.

 

 

*I really like the smell of cypress and live in New Orleans, in the Garden District. This smells like outside right now: greenery and wood right before or during a light rain. But that may not be for everyone. If it isn't, and you don't strongly get cypress notes from your fresh bottle, definitely do not let it age this long.

[freyasfae]

This is the Southern Belle scent that I was looking for. New Orleans, Hell's Bells didn't quite work for me, but this is perfect. Hothouse blooms and moss with that humidness to it. I will def be slathering this on when I miss NOLA.

[Cali]

Once again hitting the nail on the head of the description. Kind of feels like a humid forest inhabited by trolls, pocing around in the swamp, dimly lit by the little number of sumbeams that manage to find their way through the dense woods.

It's really strong and has a big, big throw. It's got a sweet feel to it and doesn't morph at all on my skin.

[Casablanca]

Bottle: A rounded blue-green aquatic – these waters run deep and are alive with algae and other life, but there’s nothing moldy. It’s heavy, motionless and sweet.

Wet: The same but stronger and sweeter. Are those swamp blooms honeysuckle and a little magnolia? The blooms are in front, with moss behind them. Definitely cypress.

Dry: Honeysuckle and magnolia in a swamp: a little salty, but not oceanic. The bog florals are strongest in the blend, but I still get some cypress.

This is a heavy but lovely scent for the depth of lazy green summer. I admit to wanting a bottle of this for its mood.

[joopjoop]

Very evocative - as are all of the Wanderlust scents I've tried!

 

The aquatic notes are very strong in this one - they almost make my nose tingle - but they are mixed with the spanish moss and cypress and smell like still or slow moving water, not like the ocean or a fast moving river. Very appropriate.

 

After about 15 minutes the honeysuckle comes out and I feel like there is a gardenia somewhere in the background trying to peek out.

 

I quite like it. It is a hot summer night scent and much more wearable for me than New Orleans. But the aquatic is just a tad too strong for my tastes so I think the imp will do for now. I'll see how much I reach for it in the summertime.

[ltrittipoe]

This is so beautiful and very evocative of being in the very center of all that greenery and florals, next to the water, at the very height of summer, at night.

This is not too sweet and not a pure floral on me - there's too much green and water to be just a floral. But the florals are creamy and lush. Very wearable, and one of the very few aquatics I can wear - most of them turn to "cologne" with my skin chemistry, but Bayou has the scent of water without being cologne-y. I can smell the trees, the moss, the huge white flowers.... The scent of summer in the Deep South.

 

This is a heavy, lush, hot scent, green, with the smell of water.

Edited July 4, 2016 by ltrittipoe

[iskhavin]

Hothouse blooms probably includes magnolia or gardenia or jasmine; has a definite heavy white floral aspect that, on me, overrides the aquatic and green elements that I can sort of detect. A lovely scent but not for my skin chemistry!

[Dienne]

In the imp and wet on skin: an aquatic, very heavy floral with a bit of green in the background. Like lots of you have said before, it makes me think of a very hot and humid night.

 

As it dried I started getting less floral and more green notes.

 

(Since I tried it on I detected a very familiar scent I just couldn't put my finger on, and in the final stages I finally realized: Lush' Guardian of The Forest bath bomb!, it makes sense since it has cypress oil and oakmoss.)

 

 

The early floral notes are too heavy for me but it gets much better when the flowers fade and leave only the trees, moss and water. I wouldn't get a bottle but I'm definitely keeping the imp.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Dienne

[LizziesLuck]

Blarg, aquatics, why can we never just get along? I was hoping green and floral notes might save this, but instead it smells like dryer sheets dipped in dirty swamp water. Blech. Not meant for my skin.

[achildoftime]

Heady, lovely swamp blooms. It's mostly magnolia, but there are some other types that I can't readily identify. Maybe a kind of jasmine or osmanthus might be giving it a suggestion of citrus without actually being fruity. The actual swamp part of this is pretty low-key for me. This scent borders on aquatic, but seems to stay floral throughout. It doesn't change and lasts forever. Love it!

[mishi-bear]

Bayou is wet florals all the way down. Definitely sweet white florals. Maybe a bit of a dirt note in it.

 

I will say that Bayou was very, very strong on me and lasted a good long while. I'd just apply this sparingly at first to avoid a headache.

 

I enjoy it, but maybe not big bottle worthy. It's a little too strong smelling for me when I have other florals and aquatic-florals that are less headache inducing.

[highpriestess]

I inherited my mom's bpal collection and Bayou stood out to me immediately as one to try on my skin first.

 

In the bottle Bayou instantly gives me hot house flowers, I can smell the heady dampness of a mossy swamp, I smell something gardenia-like or jasmine? But there's the earthiness at the end. Wet dirt. Mmm.

 

On my skin initially it went soapy, not unpleasant, but soapy. Floral and a bit powdery? Then as it's settled and dried I can smell that earthiness and moss...Like walking down a dirt road in early summer when the sun is warming but everything is still green and damp. I like it so far.

 

Edit: Unfortunately this one stayed pretty soapy on me and then dried and faded to a very soft floral. I was hoping that the mossiness would stand out more on my skin but it looks like it doesn't.

Edited January 30, 2018 by highpriestess

[cassiejaynebunk]

An aquatic floral, very pretty. eminds me of some 90s perfume I can’t quite put my finger on.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Very green! The Spanish moss note is the strongest note I get from the imp, accompanied by an aquatic vibe and some flowers.

 

Wet: The Spanish moss and florals reign. The moss and strong floral notes compete with each other for the main role for a while, before deciding that they can actually work together, although I had been thinking that the floral notes were going to win. As the scent begins to dry, the evergreen and cypress emerge, making the scent greener.

 

Dry: The moss and floral notes are calmer now, and the aquatic blooms have finally made their presence known. The scent is more aquatic than green now, with the watery notes and swamp blooms becoming the strongest notes, with lots of Spanish moss and just a bit of the crisp evergreen.

 

Verdict: This is a nice floral, mossy aquatic, for those that appreciate those scents. It's not one I could see myself reaching for, not generally being a fan of aquatics, but I'm glad I got to try it.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Imp fresh from the Lab. I ordered this because I was looking for a watery scent that was petrichor rather than a sharp note such as ozone.

 

In the imp: Oil is clear and golden. Nice! Bright, green, aquatic but not sharp (yes!!), flowers accenting but not dominating. The green notes do mask the petrichor to some extent (as well as contributing to the classic-perfume vibe), but it is definitely there.

 

On me, wet: Perfumey, greenery, magnolia and/or gardenia, bright, watery. Feminine, reminiscent of a classic perfume.

 

At 5 minutes: Much the same, but lighter, less bright, more floral. Lovely.

 

At 10 minutes: This was heavy at first, but is now already quite light. It still has a good throw.

 

At 20 minutes: Very beautiful florals. They are going a little powdery, but that somehow enhances it even more, makes it softer. There are still green and watery notes as well.

 

At 1 hour: Soft and powdery classic perfume.

 

At 2 hours: The petrichor note I hoped for is still discernable, yay!

 

After that, I went to bed, so I don't know how long it lasted. Probably not much longer, as it was pretty faint.

 

Verdict: An easy scent to wear - classic, bright, feminine, and (after the first 10 or 15 minutes) light. It has a cooling mood that makes it great for warm weather. This does not morph or change, but stays consistent. And yes, it does have a petrichor-like aspect, which is confirmed by the dirt note some reviewers mentioned. Petrichor and florals, how lovely!

 

5 out of 6 stars

Edited September 23, 2018 by Ghost of a Rose